


Ondotári

by Varaen



Series: Fills for LLA 2016 [5]
Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Elves, GFY, Gen, Gondolin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-12
Updated: 2016-04-12
Packaged: 2018-06-01 20:36:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6535381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Varaen/pseuds/Varaen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The king and queen of Ondolindë were a study in opposites.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ondotári

**Author's Note:**

> For the 11.04 prompt: Everybody lives!

Lómion always listened fascinated whenever his mother had the opportunity to tell him of her youth in Valinor, or of the hidden city Ondolindë, Gondolin in the Sindar tongue, where her brother Turukáno reigned as king. It was so very different from the dark woods of Nan Elmoth that were all the little elfling knew. Even after his father Eöl named him Maeglin and begun to take greater interest in his son, little Lómion strayed back to his mother, and the stories he loved. Nonetheless, he traveled far with Eöl whenever he went to trade with the dwarves and learned many skills from all of them, of forging, prospecting and smelting, and even the secret of his alloy galvorn did Eöl teach him.

He witnessed his mother grow more and more restless under the strict rules his father imposed on his wife. Drawing the parallels to the restrictions that had driven her out of Gondolin, he cautioned Eöl to let her travel more freely and maybe visit her relatives, but his advice went unheard. While her love for her husband never waned, her tolerance for his quirks that had once been so endearing to her dwindled. One day, after Eöl had left again, Lómion urged her to leave with him. He was anxious to meet the relatives he only knew from his mother’s stories, and to see his mother smile again.

Their flight went unnoticed, as Lómion led them along the hidden forest paths he had found when playing alone and never shown his parents, and later, Irissë led the way along the northern edge of Doriath, backtracking the way she had come almost a hundred years before. Lómion, fearful of his father’s pursuit, convinced her to leave the horses behind in the woods, so that their hoofprints or neighing may not lead him after them. The footprints of two elves were easily hidden between the tracks of Doriathrim border patrols and animal migration.

They reached the first hidden gate by sunrise. Irissë was welcomed back with great joy. The guards implored her to go and meet with her brother immediately, for she had been greatly missed, and long had the king and queen worried for her safety after she vanished. She hurried to the central tower, eager to reconvene with her dearest brother and law-sister.

The king and queen of Ondolindë were a study in opposites. He wore long robes of deep blue that shimmered with woven patterns in slightly paler hues. At his wrists, Lómion could glimpse several layers of lighter blue below. Lómion was reminded of the old white dress his mother had shown him sometimes, the only possession except for her bow she had left that predated her marriage. The king’s dark hair was crowned with a circlet of silver and gold entwined.

At his side, the queen seemed pale and ghostly, although her skin was a tanned gold to her husband’s pale complexion. Her golden locks tumbled freely over her shoulders, held back from her face by a golden diadem. Her long white dress was plain and unadorned, except for the voluminous white fur she had draped around her shoulders.

The royal couple was flanked by two elves that seemed like distorted mirror images or each other: A nís in a shimmering green gown, and a nér in a plain white skirt and tunic, both crowned with the radiant golden-blonde hair of the Vanyar. Lómion recognized them to be his cousins, Itarillë, called Idril Celebrindal the silverfooted for her habit to walk about barefoot, and her young brother Tarondar, who had been born in Gondolin.

His idle musing was interrupted by the queen, who rose with a shout and ran to embrace his mother.

“Irissë!”

“Elenwë!”

Encased in Irissë’s arms as she was, the queen seemed even more slight and fragile than from afar. Lómion knew the tale of her narrow brush with death during the crossing of the Helcaraxë, although his mother had been reluctant to tell him much of the grimmer parts of her past. It was obvious that Elenwë had never completely recovered.

“This is my son, Lómion.”

His bow was interrupted halfway through, as his aunt embraced him as well.

“Welcome home, dear nephew.”

 

* * *

 

Irissë fit back into her old life almost as if she never had been gone. She missed Eöl at times, but mostly, his paranoid rules and restrictions had taught her to appreciate the small freedoms she had in Gondolin. She rode out between the fields and pastures that lay between the hidden city and the surrounding mountains, and was content, for she had an increased esteem for the safety they provided after surviving the dark forests north of Doriath.

Lómion thrived in the city that had once stifled his mother. The forgemasters appreciated the skills he had learned at his father’s feet, and he shared everything with them, except for the secret techniques the dwarves had entrusted him with. A lot of his time was spent in the forges with the artisans, except for the times when one of his cousins dragged him out into the sunlight. He had grown close to both of them, but even his newfound friends struggled to rid him of his aversion, having experienced such brightness only rarely, and only from the shadowy shelter of the trees. So distinctive were his habits that use of his childhood nickname soon spread to his whole family, and later to the other inhabitants of the city. Even after years, he still preferred hooded cloaks as part of his daily wear. His aunt and uncle loved their little mole also, and became like a second set of parents to him.

 

* * *

 

Elenwë had trained falcons, that were often sent to the other Lords of the Noldor with messages. As such, they received small groups of refugees after the Battle of Sudden Flame and the death of her law-father, as many as could be hidden from the minions of Morgoth.

Likewise, during the battle that later became known as the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, the reinforcements from Gondolin were no surprise to Findekáno, who had arranged their arrival with his brother, their king. The Gondolindrim charged the field under the lead of their king and princes, to the great surprise of the Dark Lord, whose spies had not been privy to the secret council of the High King and his brother. Nonetheless, the battle failed to achieve the intentions of the Union of Maedhros. The Noldor lost their second High King in as many decades, and even though many creatures of Morgoth were slain by the combined forces of Elves, Dwarves and Men, by the treachery of Men, the battle was lost and the armies had to retreat back into their fortresses.

 

* * *

 

They had been watching the hooded strangers traverse the fields for hours. Tarondar doubted that they were refugees, because those always came in larger groups and there were only two beings on the path. Itarillë and Lómion were more interested in guessing whether the smaller of the two was a young elf, or an adult Man.

When the travelers were led into the throne room, they were revealed as Voronwë, a messenger that Turukáno had endeavoured to send to Valinor, in the company of Tuor, a man of the House of Hador. They announced that they had been sent by the Vala Ulmo with a warning, to remind him of the transience of his hidden stronghold.

Although Turukáno had grown proud and held great confidence in his fortifications and the secrecy that surrounded Gondolin, Elenwë cautioned him to heed the guidance of the Vala, and in secret, escape tunnels were built, places of refuge were scouted and over the years, the exodus of the Gondolindrim occured.

Tuor however grew close to the children of Turukáno and their cousin, especially Itarillë, with whom he fell in love later. And so it came to pass that seven years after his arrival in Gondolin, Tuor wed Itarillë, princess of the Noldor. And so the second great union of Eldar and Edain came to pass. Their son Eärendil has his mother’s golden hair and his father’s green eyes, and incorporated in him were the greatest traits of his ancestors.

When Eärendil was still a child, Morgoth discovered the location of Gondolin at last. With fire and smoke, the dragons and Balrogs of Morgoth led the assault, and behind them came an army of orcs to raze the city. Evacuation proceeded smoothly, still many Gondolindrim died that day, chief among them Turukáno, who fell covering the escape of his family.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the 'Elenwë lives: calling Turukáno out on his shit'-edition, which is why it ends with the fall of Gondolin. I have to admit that I am undecided if she survives that.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Peacemakers](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6664324) by [Varaen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Varaen/pseuds/Varaen)




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